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Hamerton Zoo News

2008

Please help our Poitou Donkeys!

They were all in quite poor condition on arrival, and it wasn’t very long before we had our first problems.

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Poitou Donkey Appeal

List of News Events Through 2008

January
Our grey Vlaamse Reus female rabbit gave birth to the first babies of the year, she had seven in total.
After many months of intimidating and threatening anyone that went near, our adult male Reindeer finally lost his antlers, much to the relief of the keepers.
Three new species of bird arrived at the Zoo, and they were an Andean Goose, Cereopsis Goose, and New Zealand Paradise Shelduck.
Our future breeding male Bactrian Camel, Nelis arrived after a long wait, and with him came one of his potential wives, a two year old called Esme. As well as the camels we had two new Reindeer females arrive.

February
Finally the last of our camel and reindeer families arrived, 2 young female reindeer and a female camel called Mareille.
Keepers went into the Black backed Jackal enclosure to find mewling noises coming from the nest box. A quick peek in the box revealed there was three day old pups tucked up all snug and warn.

March
Our young male Pudu went off to his new home at Chester Zoo.
The oldest breeding Corsac fox was missing one morning, so keepers checked all the boxes and found her curled up with a litter of new born cubs.
Some more of our home bred animals went off to new homes, a male and female alpaca went to start a new life at Colchester Zoo.
The second of our Corsac fox female was found with her new litter of cubs.
Our third female Corsac fox was found with her first litter of cubs. Unfortunately our old girl took a few of them to rear herself. But I am glad to report that all were fine with their foster mum.
The first group of Meerkats were found to be parading their new babies around their enclosure.

April
Our first ever baby camel was born to Naisa, it was a little girl, so we named her Zeana. Mother and baby were fine, however as with many first time mums, Naisa was not letting the calf out of her sight therefore she was not able to drink. Keepers had to assist mother into a purpose built race so that she could stand still and not hurt herself or the calf, while the other keepers coaxed the calf into suckling. After a couple of times both had got the hang of it.
After what felt like many years of waiting, we finally acquired a female Manchurian Crane. She has been paired with our male who is very excited and prancing around the enclosure, much to the delight of visitors.
Olive one of our Poitou donkeys had a little baby girl. Unfortunately the foal was taken sick 24 hours later and was rushed to the vets in Newmarket. After many hours of trying to keep her alive, the hard decision was taken to put her to sleep. A post-mortem later revealed that she had a huge hole in her heart, which was inoperable.
Olive and her stable mate India were taken to stud down in Southampton, where they’ll stay for a few months.
A new species of vulture arrived. The pair of Palm Nut Vultures are now sharing a home with the Hood Vultures. On the same day that the vultures arrived we also receive 3 pairs of Siberian Weasels.
Our other adult female camel Karakai also had a little baby girl, and we named her Veneta. Keepers still had to assist with the feeding of the calf, but only once.
An entirely new species of animal to the Zoo collection arrived, a female Red River Hog. Her mate was due to arrive a couple of months later.
At a year old our three young female cheetahs were weaned from their mum. All three are still together, but they now have their own home.
Mareille one of our young female camels, since her arrival, has been snorting like a pig, especially at feeding time. She was taken to Cambridge Veterinary College to have her breathing checked out.

May
The month of May started off with the first of our reindeer calves being born. A few days later they were being popped out left right and centre, giving us 1 male and 3 females.
Our hand reared Collared Lemur Woody and his mate had their first baby.
True to form the Great Grey Owls hatched their eggs off, and three healthy chicks are growing rapidly.
Suzy, one of our miniature donkeys had a little baby boy, who we named Charlie.
More clutches of eggs were hatched off, this time by our Giant Wood Rails and White Storks. Fingers crossed the Wood rails will raise their young this year.
The weather turned very wet and cold, so the second nest of Storks were taken and put into the incubator and a few days later all the stork chicks were being hand reared.
Opaline another of our Poitou donkeys had a little baby girl with a little help from the head keeper. But the bad luck continued with our donkey foals, and we had to rush the foal to the vets. After every effort she slowly slipped away from us, and died a few hours later. The reason was yet another problem that could not have been cured.

June
Bruno, one of our male Cheetahs, arrived back from a long stay at Colchester Zoo. He was there to mate with their female. The mating was very successful and 3 happy healthy cubs were born.
Kate, another or our miniature donkeys also had a little boy who we named Jake.
Our second group of Meerkats were found to have babies, in the nest. All was going well for a few days, then two became very weak so the decision was made to remove them for hand rearing.
We finally collected a male Red River Hog from Howletts Wild Animal Park. When they put the boar in with the sow, they disappeared inside and did not venture out for days.
The first of our female Alpacas gave birth to a little boy, the cria was black.

July
The Black footed tortoise female laid several eggs, but unfortunately none were fertile.
Ladybelle our female tiger lost her appetite, so we called the vet. After a course of antibiotics she is recovering well.
Four baby Capybara were born to our original breeding female. All are doing well.
Another baby boy Alpaca was born to our grey female. He is grey, and has nearly identical markings to his mum.
Much to the delight of our miniature donkey Kate, Tomcat an unrelated jack came to visit. Along with our resident couple Suzy and Jasper, we are looking forward to next year when they are both due to foal.

August
The Giant Wood Rails are sitting again; this is their second brood of the year.
Just hatching out are the first of the Scarlet Ibis chicks, in the aviary next to the Giant Wood Rails.

September
The Black backed Jackals are finally moved to their new house and paddock on the far side of the tigers. It didn’t take them long to get used to their new home and neighbours.
The eagerly awaited arrivals of a new bloodline of Miniature Donkeys were collected from Prestwick airport in Scotland. It was twelve midnight when the keepers arrived back at the zoo, but the journey was worth it, and all arrived safe and sound.
Olive and India arrived back home after their sabbatical in Southampton.
Sahal our two year old Poitou donkey eventually lost the battle with her leg problem, and she was put to sleep. Although we knew the operations would be a 50/50 chance of success, it was still a great shock to us all, when the legs finally failed. She not only touched the hearts of her keepers, but all of her vets, nurses and visitors alike. She will never be forgotten.

October
After a long fight with illness our original male Binturong was put to sleep.
The last of the Miniature Donkeys were collected from Prestwick Airport in Scotland, but only after a very long and arduous journey. Due to very bad weather, the plane could not land, therefore the donkeys were flown to Luxembourg for a short time, until the weather had calmed. When donkeys and keepers finally arrived at the zoo it was two in the morning. After a couple of days the donkeys settled in well with the others and were none worse the wear for their journey.
The female Maned wolf had her first litter of cubs, but unfortunately a couple of days later she lost them both.

November
Our Alpaca herd has now increased as more arrived from Southampton, along with a new Billy Goat.
A pair of the Siberian Weasels born this year, depart for a new home at Longleat Safari Park.
Tulipe a six month old Poitou donkey arrived from France. She has settled in well and Opaline one of our older mares that sadly lost her foal earlier in the year has taken her under her wing.
Our breeding group of Silvery Marmosets have two tiny new additions to their group. We will not know the sex of the babies until they are old enough to be caught and microchipped.
Our oldest male Aardwolf Geoff, was put to sleep after becoming very weak and disorientated, he was 17 years old. He will be sadly missed by all.

December
Although the events of this month have not yet unfurled, we do have expected new arrivals. The first, due at the beginning of the month, is the Mammoth Donkeys from Texas. Like the Poitou, these too are giants.
The second on the new arrivals list is the eagerly anticipated Giant Anteaters, either this month or early in the new year.
As for the animals we have here in the collection already, the Red River Hogs’ new home is having the finishing touches put to it, and they are due to move in just as soon as it is complete. Along side them, will be a new home for the Capybara, which is also being built at the moment. In the same area an Otter enclosure is also being built, ready for when we receive the Otters next year.

The only other thing we have to say is “Watch this space”.

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